Blue tears
by XXinsidemymindXX
Summary: Gray, Juvia and Lucy are on their way to what they consider to be an easy quest when they are attacked in the middle of the night... This will be a fairly graphical fic with detailed descriptions of torture and some foul language, if this is not your cup of tea please do not read, it's rated M for later chapters. hope you enjoy :) Gruvia fic
1. Chapter 1

First Fairy tail fic! I am really exited to post this and would like to express my deepest gratitude to my Beta Vicious-Loner who has taken time from her busy schedule to help me improve as a writer.

Disclaimer: of course I do not own Fairy Tail, if I did I would restart the anime in this very second and just make poor Hiro Mashima work every second of every day to keep feeding my current addiction with a never ending flow of episodes :D

I hope you like it and please R&R :)

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**Chapter 1**

When he found the mission on the request board he immediately realized it would be perfect for Juvia and him, after all who would be better suited for a mission requiring stopping the drought in a faraway desert than a water and an ice mage? However, he cringed a bit at the thought of asking "her" on a mission, knowing well she would misinterpret the request completely. Well it couldn't be helped, he really needed the money and it wold be so much easier if she tagged along.

He took the request down from the board and walked over to Juvia who were sitting with Lucy, Gajeel and Levy at one of the tables.

"Juvia, I have a quest here that would suit you and me perfectly, want to come?"

Juvia twitched at the sound of his voice, could this really be happening? Could Gray-sama really be asking _her_ out on a quest? "Imma Imma, me? Um... Sure!" She finally managed to pull out of her shaking mouth.

Lucy thought: _A job? Sweet, I'm flat broke and I cannot be late with my rent this month too, she´ll kill me! Or even worse, thro__w__ me out on the street!_ And so she raised her voice and said, "I want to come along as well if that's ok? I really need the money!"

If Lucy would have even so much as glanced at Juvias way in that moment she would have found out if the old saying was true, that a glare could actually kill someone. However, she had her full concentration on Gray's face to see the confirmation she was waiting for and it did not take long for it to come.

"Sure, it could not hurt to have another one with us", the raven haired boy nodded approvingly. On the inside however, he thought to himself. _Thank god! Not just me and Juvia, things will be so much easier now_.

They set out on their journey early the next day. Unfortunately there were no trains in that direction so they ended up walking the long distance.

**Four days later, at dusk **

Gray had been minding his own business, pleased that nothing out of the ordinary had happened during their travels through a country that was growing hotter and less lush for every hour they walked, when he heard the sudden sound of someone stumbling behind him. He turned around and saw Lucy sitting on the ground with a cranky look on her face. Before she had the chance to open her mouth he interrupted her with a:

"Alright, let's rest now, we should arrive at the town tomorrow morning" and with that he walked towards the dry ditch of the road and started setting up camp, seemingly unaware that Lucy was currently busy giving him a death glare and Juvia drooled up a river when he stripped down to his usual topless outfit.

**Middle of the night **

Juvia could not sleep that night. It was simply way too nerve wrenchingly exiting to lay so close to Gray. Her constant daydreams of them sleeping next to each other, cuddled up in a warm cosy bed with beautiful flower printed bed linen had already interfered with her sleep most of the trip. Tonight however, the daydreams constantly playing out in her head where much more vivid than previous nights, rendering any sleep completely impossible.

After tossing and turning for a few hours she sighed slightly before getting up quietly, careful not to disturb her sleeping guild members. To lie awake for so long had caused a more biology based reaction to kick in and she left the small group in search for privacy for a moment.

The attack was sudden and unexpected.

Lucy wakes up with a scream when something is slammed into her back so hard she sails through the air and loses consciousness upon impact with the hard rock with a sickening crunch.

Gray wakes up with a jerk when he hears Lucy's scream and instantly raises himself prepared to fight. When he finds Lucy lying unconscious next to the cliff they all had been sleeping under, he rushes over to protect her and is trying to find the source of the chaos while preparing and Ice Lance Attack.

In the same second Juvia hears Lucy's scream she is being attacked herself. A massive man: at least two meter tall and almost as wide, that appears to be completely made of stone and only dressed in a pair of loosely fitted green pants steps out from behind the rock he had obviously used as hiding place while spying on Juvia and launches his right stone enhanced fist towards Juvia. Juvia however evades his attack easily by quickly creating a small puddle right where he is standing. The water blends in with the dry dirt, creating a slippery wet patch that causes the massive stone man to lose his balance, sliding maybe a meter and falling onto his back in the process. While he is getting back up on his feet Juvia completely ignores her attacker and instead utilizes the short interlude to run back towards her friends.

**Grays POV**

What the hell is happening? Who is attacking us and where the hell is Juvia? She was sleeping right next to Lucy and me before? There! I can see her, she is running towards us and we end up in a formation protecting Lucy with the cliff covering our backs. I see a woman with long thick black hair flowing in the wind dressed in a formfitting long black dress walking up towards us sending dark magic daggers that glimmers in the weak moon light as she walks. I'm changing to a shield big enough to protect me and the unconscious Lucy behind me, and I can see Juvia in the corner of my eye fighting of an attack from a massive guy that appears to be made out of stone. He sends one of his stone arms swinging towards Juvia but she does nothing to evade the attack, it hits her without any effect what so ever. "Juvia's body is made out of water, you cannot hurt Juvia."

I smirk slightly to myself; they were probably not prepared for that one while preparing another Ice Lance Attack and releasing it upon the woman who keeps sending her daggers towards me.

Juvia creates a Water Lock around her opponents head but he only smiles, "You cannot drown a stone, little mage." During their battle they get separated from Lucy's and my position next to the cliff but it can't be helped, she moves even further away from us when trying to get a clear strike against her opponent.

I see a smirk on the strange woman's face and the daggers change course, from attacking me to attacking Lucy. I quickly send an Ice shield to cover her but now there are two women there instead of one! I keep trying to protect Lucy the best I can while fending of the attacks but they are closing in on us. Suddenly I hear a scream from Juvia; I turn around to see her holding her bleeding arm with a look equally mixed with both pain and confusion. "Juvia's body is made of water, water cannot be hurt, so how did you hurt Juvia's body?" she asks the strange woman.

"Damn it, stay away from that woman Juvia!" I shout but too late, a new wave of the glimmering dark daggers is sent through the air towards both Lucy and Juvia at the same time, there is not a chance in hell that I can protect both, I make an Ice shield around Lucy and throws myself in front of Juvia to protect her with my own body.

The first knife hits my chest while I'm still in the air, right under my left collarbone, and I can feel the piercing pain overtake every sense. Before I even get a chance to gather enough air to scream a second knife drills itself deeply into my right thigh and I crash to the ground, stirring up a cloud of red dust in the process. Nonetheless, my injuries have second priority right now and after a couple of seconds of collecting myself I start pulling myself up again with help from the massive stone wall behind me.

HEY SHITHEAD! Did you really think we would give up without a fight!? We are Fairy Tail mages and you'll be fucking sorry that you messed with us, trust me!" I shout towards the enemy woman but I'm only rewarded with a contempt snarl for my cocky efforts.

"Oh, how tiring. A smart person would know when they are supposed to stay down." The mysterious woman sighs in annoyance and with an almost casual whisk of her right hand sends a wave of pure dark energy towards me while I'm still trying to pull myself together to stand up again. Unable to block the energy I take a direct hit to the chest that sends me flying once again, though this time I'm being thrown backwards and crashes head first into the rock behind me. The last thing I'm dimly aware of before darkness absorbs everything is a high pitched scream coming from Juvia on my right when she sees me colliding with the unforgiving rock…

**Third person POV**

Juvia cried out in horror when Gray fell to the ground, she was by his side in an instant trying to find out how badly he is hurt and protect him from the enemy. The only thing is, suddenly the magical daggers had stopped coming. Now there is only one woman again standing in front of Juvia, smirking at the two mages.

With another casual wave of her hand she sent Juvia flying through the air, landing a few meters away from Gray. When the mysterious woman grabbed Gray's hair and lifted him up in it, another dagger appeared in her other hand and she threatening held it just in front of his throat as she turned to Juvia.

"Ah young love, how touching. You obviously care a lot for this mage don't you? I did not see you care when the other mage went down, so if you do not want any further harm to come to him I suggest you give up all plans on attacking me and surrender right now."

Juvia raised her hands above her head in a sign of defeat. She could not risk Gray's life and was more than willing to surrender herself if that meant that they would leave him alone.

"Juvia will come with you. Do not hurt Gray-sama again. Leave him here and Juvia will come with you without a fight."

"Yeah yeah, sure whatever." The mysterious woman nodded towards the stone man and he walked over to Juvia in order to put a pair of weird-looking copper ornamented handcuffs on her.

"What are you doing? You promised that you would leave Gray-sama alone if Juvia came with you!" Juvia stated furiously when she saw the woman putting a matching pair of the odd-looking handcuffs on Gray as well before dropping him unceremoniously to the ground.

"And you actually believed me? Oh, how sweet and naïve of you. I will keep him as an insurance of your obedience, if you at any point does anything… well shall we say, anything to disappoint me, I will not hurt you, but him instead…" the malicious woman explained with an evil grin.

Juvia, now in full rage prepared a Water Lock, she would make the stranger suffer for hurting Gray and her trickery but when she called upon the magic within her nothing happened.

"O my sweet little innocent water mage, those handcuffs are not any ordinary toys. They prevent you from using any magic while they are locked…" the other woman explained upon noticing Juvia's confusion, still smiling maliciously. She gave the stone man another nod and he pushed Juvia forward in a rough sign to start walking before walking up to Gray's unconscious body and without any effort throw him up on his shoulder and started walking down the road towards the town Gray, Lucy and Juvia was heading to in the beginning.

**Later**

When Gray woke up, the first thing he noticed was the sharp pain pulsating from his chest and right thigh; it penetrated all other senses making him gasp deeply for air. When the first sensation eased an inch he opened his eyes to find that he was locked up in what appears to be a dimly lit prison cell. The front and side walls are made up of metal bars with only the back wall being made out of a grey stone. From what he could see there were several cells on both sides and someone had chained him in a sitting position against the back wall of the cell with his arms above his head.

Where the hell is he? What happened and where are Juvia and Lucy?

"Gray-sama?" When he heard the weak and tear-filled familiar voice he turned his attention towards the sound and found Juvia locked up in a cell next to him, chained to the back wall just as he is and kneeling in a way that is mimicking his own, not so comfortable resting position.

"Juvia! Are you okay? Where is Lucy, and where the hell are we?"

"Juvia don't know where we are, they covered Juvia's eyes when they brought us here. They left Lucy at the side of the road and brought us here but Juvia does not know why. They threatened to hurt Gray-sama if Juvia did not go with them. Juvia failed to protect Gray-sama and Lucy; Juvia cannot ever be forgiven for her mistakes." The young female magician finished her explanation before starting to cry silently.

"Hey hey, Juvia, don't be so hard on yourself, this is not your fault, we obviously walked into a trap but we will get out of it somehow". Gray said comforting in a soft voice with more confidence than he actually felt. He had already tried to freeze his chains to crack them open but nothing happened and the blood loss together with the penetrating pain from his injuries had weakened him noticeably. How the hell did they manage to keep putting themselves in situations like this?


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Lucy woke up with a pounding headache and a very tender back. After a few moments of disorientation and confusion she started to remember what happened. _We were attacked; I was thrown into a big rock, which would explain my aching head and back. It happened in the middle of the night and judging from the sun it has to be at least midday by now. Where are the others?_

When looking around she noticed several clear signs of a battle that must have taken place after she went down in form of a massive crack in the cliff next to her and slippery wet patched of dirt where the ice Gray must have used where melting, together with plashes of dark bloodstains not far from where she was laying. She shuddered at the thought of who the blood belonged to. However, even after a thorough investigation of the area she still couldn't locate neither Juvia nor Gray. She could not even find any clues as to where they must have been taken. Lucy contemplated her options; she could try to find them herself, but to be quite honest she had no idea where to start looking: She could try at the village they were heading for to begin with but chances were that whoever took her friends would be the same guys who made the request to start with and if they managed to kidnap both Gray and Juvia, two strong and capable mages she, by herself, was probably no match for them. So her best chances would be to return to the guild as quick as possible to gather backup before moving on to the next step. Nevertheless, it was a long way home and it would take several days just to get back to this place to start searching for their friends. She could only hope she made the right choice and her friends did not end up suffering because of it…

Gray was pretty sure three days had passed since they were taken captive but the days and nights where already starting to merge into an undistinctive blur. They were all the same, the morning started with a rough awakening by a guard, Gray and Juvia was both moved from their cells to something that mostly looked like a lab, but with the extended features of classic torture equipment. After chaining Gray to yet another wall, they attached Juvias handcuffs to a massive machine that seemed to measure her magic somehow; Instead of blocking her magic the machine seemed to alter the purpose of the handcuffs to channelling and measuring her powers. Then she was ordered to perform different magical tasks while the machine spitted out different formulas and numbers. If she did refuse, which happened at first, they did not harm her; Instead the stone man walked up to Gray and hit him hard with his stone fist right over the knife wound under his collarbone, the pain intensified a thousandfold in an instant and Gray could not stop himself from screaming out in agony before gasping for air.

"STOP IT!" Juvia cried desperately. "Stop hurting him, Juvia will do as you ask, just please do not hurt him anymore." To no use, the stone man only smiled cruelly and continued to bash Gray up.

When the huge man finally had enough Gray was barely conscious. The only thing holding him up was the chains, his knees had since long given up and he had no strength left to keep his head up. The only life sign was the shallow, ragged breathing that came out in short gasps for air.

"Do you understand now little water mage? I told you didn't I? If you do not cooperate, I _will_ take it out on your little crush here." The malicious woman in the black dress explained while nodding casually towards Gray's way. "I would try to behave a little better from now on if I were you; it does not look like the boy is going to be able to take much more of your 'misbehaving' so from now on if you could simply work with us a little that would be much appreciated."

Juvia only nodded, her face covered in tears, before she quietly whispered "Please do not hurt him anymore."

"That depends entirely on you my sweet little mage."

Both Juvia and the nameless woman in black looked up when they heard a weak voice.

"Juvia, don't help them." Was all Gray managed to get out before being shut up by a stone fist perfectly placed over his right eye, the impact sending his head straight into the wall. Piercing arrows of pain rushed through his head, absorbing every sense and pushing him over the final threshold into unconsciousness.

**Evening**

When Gray woke up the next time he was back in his cell, once again chained to the wall. The first sensation is pain, an incandescent, sharp pain that originated from the back of his head and spread out to every limb, making his whole body ache and his eyes tear. When he comes to he opened his eyes to find that it must be in the middle of the night considering the whole room was dark; The only light source came from a weak yellow light shining in from under the door to the prison.

"Juvia, are you there?"

"Yes Gray-sama, Juvia is here." the young woman answered in a voice thick with sorrow and old tears. "I am so sorry, I never meant for this to happen Gray, it's my fault you are hurt, I'm so sorry".

Gray had never heard her referring to herself in first person before and that actually only made him more worried, it was a clear sign of how distressed the blue haired mage really was.

"Juvia, you have to listen to me, this is _not_ your fault. For fuck sake, I was the one asking _you_ to come with _me_ on this mission. But you have to promise me one thing Juvia, you cannot help them, there is some sinister magic at work here and whatever you do, you cannot help them reach their goals."

"Juvia did not think Gray-sama was that stupid, Juvia has already done everything they asked her to do today." The blue haired mage was quiet for quite some time before continuing. "I promise you, I would to anything they told me to do if it meant that they would not hurt Gray-sama, do you hear me, anything…"

This promise however turned out to be harder than Juvia would have thought to keep. The black haired woman kept asking her to perform tasks that where unfamiliar and sometimes impossible to fulfil. Every time she failed they wold punish Gray as 'motivation' for Juvia to try harder the next time. As the hours and days went past the stone man became more and more inventive in his efforts to make Grays scream.

Gray soon lost count on how many of his ribs the stone man had crushed, how many times he forced his fist into Gray's face and stomach. How many times he was kicked in the kidneys, between his legs and how many times the iron spiked whip had whizzed over his torn body, not just his back but legs, arms, stomach and chest as well. It quickly became a waste of energy just trying to keep track of it.

On the third day, however, the black haired woman seemed to get more impatient and frustrated with the ever failing experiments and gave the stone man an order that made Juvia cry out in full desperation and frustration, to no use: Instead he simply left the big chamber in order to make the necessary preparations. However, they did not had to wait very long for him to make an appearance once again, this time dragging a young brown-haired girl in something that could best be described as dog collar after him. The little girl, dressed in a dirty, knee-long beige dress that hung loosely around her bony shoulders could not have been older than ten. She was trembling in fear as she was dragged through the room by the metal spiked collar around her small neck before being forced to sit down on a chair right in front of Juvia and chained to it. In the mean-time Juvia had not stopped begging them not to do this but all of her verbal attempts at convincing the massive man to stop what he was doing went by unnoticed.

"You sick bastard, why don't you pick on someone your own size?!" Gray shouted from the far wall. "COME GET ME INSTEAD IF YOU DARE!"

The woman ignored the furious ice mage completely and turned to Juvia once again. "Water is the very essence of life, of everything around us. Without water there is no existence. Water is also consistent, without electricity to separate the oxygen and the hydrogen atoms it cannot be discomposed or recreated, only be transformed into either ice or steam by adding or removing heat. You however, my pretty little pet mage do not seem to be restricted by these most fundamental physic laws of our world. I need to figure out how you manipulate and create water at your will. So, as I said before: I need you to kill this girl with your Water Lock. Now…" She demanded coldly.

"No, don't make me do that, please, Juvia begs you, I can't do this. It's impossible…"

"Do it now! Or else your little lover boy over there suffers the consequences."

"No I… I won't do it…."

"Juvia don't do it, you can't kill a defenceless child, HEY ASSHOLE, take me instead!" Gray finished the sentence now addressing the massive stone man but was still being completely ignored.

When the black haired woman after a short interlude of impatiently waiting for a response more to her liking concluded that Juvia would not succumb to her commands she gave an irritated nod to Mr Stone man and he took the little girl away. When he returned however he walked up to Gray, unhooked him from his chains to the wall and moved him to a table closer to the others where he forced the raven haired teen to lie down before chaining him again.

"I told you that you would regret defying me water mage. Now your little lover will feel the consequences of your defiance." The older woman declared through white teeth gritted in annoyance.

"Please Juvia begs you, please do not do this, what kind of monster are you? Please stop this now." Juvia pleaded desperately. Salty tears burned behind her bloodshot eyes and it felt like her chest where about to explode with all the terror and frustration that had built up through the last few days of seeing her beloved being tortured over and over again.

Her pleading however went by completely unnoticed once again. When the preparations where finished Mr Stone man un-ceremonially raised his massive stone-fist and let it fall right over Gray's right knee, crushing the kneecap completely. He then walked around the table and repeated the process with Grays left kneecap, seemingly unaffected by the young boy's horrified screams echoing through the cold room, accompanied by the blue haired woman's hysterical cries for him to stop the torture. Gray could hear his own pained screams and Juvia's desperate cries echo in the dark chamber in what felt like an eternity before the blissful darkness finally found him.

That night, the chains holding Gray's ragged body up in a sitting position started to rattle, an eerie sound that sent chills through Juvia's body as she listened to them in the darkness of the night.


	3. Chapter 3

**To my dear reviewers: Yes! This is exactly the reaction I was aiming for ;). I know it is a short chapter but please, bear with me, next chapter will be more descriptive again. Until then I hope you enjoy reading my little story.**

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**Chapter 3**

When Lucy finally saw the roof of the impressive Guild house in the distance she sighed in relief and started running even faster than before, forcing her tired limbs to move swifter through the streets of Magnolia to reach her destination as fast as possible. It had taken Gray, Juvia and Lucy four full days to walk the distance, but feeling the gravity of the situation Lucy had forced a speed far greater than that on the return journey and as a result, she reached the guild in less than three and a half days instead. Upon arrival she stopped for a second to see who was there, when noticing the short man sitting cross-legged on top of the bar she rushed over to him and quickly explained what happened before she had even properly caught her breath, causing the words to come out in non-understandable noises. The old man raised his left hand to silence her and asked her to sit down, catch her breath and start over. Lucy reluctantly followed his instructions and once again explained the situation, now in a more composed and informative way. The ruckus of Lucy's unusual entre has caught the attention of all the guild members currently located in the dining hall and the whole place was dead silent when she told the story of what happened to her and the captured guild members.

When she finished explaining what happened a second time the whole guild was silent as the grave for a few seconds. The silence was broken by a female voice. "We will get them back Lucy, unharmed. This is my promise to you." Erza said in a calm strong voice, letting none of her worry and anger be shown in neither voice nor eyes. She left the quest board she had been studying and walked up to the bar, stopping just behind Lucy, raising her hand to Lucy shoulder and squeezed it gently in a small gesture of comfort.

Lucy felt a warm hand gently squeezing her other shoulder and looked up to find Natsu nodding in agreement to Ezra's previous statement. Even though his hand provided a much needed comfort and confirmation of the deep friendship-bond between them the dark look in his dead serious face made Lucy shuddered to herself and thank the gods once again that he was her friend and not her enemy. Natsu's nod was soon followed by each and every member of the guild currently residing in the hall.

"Erza, Natsu, Happy, Gajeel, Elfman and Cana, you will all go with Lucy to retrieve our missing guild members, take two magic powered cars from the car rental service in town to get there faster, and take a messenger Lacrima from the storage room so that you can inform me of your progress. Understood?" Makarov declared with a steady, powerful voice and upon a unison nod everybody immediately got up from their seats to start the search for Gray and Juvia.

It took the group just over a day to reach the place where Lucy and the others were attacked. Elfman and Erza were driving one each of the cars, sweeping through the dry landscape in a tremendous speed. Not many words were exchanged between the people in either of the cars during the ride. Happy, Cana and Gajeel where mostly staring out through the windows, the three of them deep in thoughts wondering what they were going to find when they arrived. Lucy was the quietest of them all. Images of the trashed camp and the bloodstains on the ground kept haunting her thoughts and she desperately wished for her friends to be okay and that she had made the right choice in returning to the guild to gather backup rather than going after them herself. Natsu were too busy regretting the decision of having a huge breakfast of bacon, eggs and sausages that morning to be in the mood for any conversation at all as he mostly hung out of the back window heaving up everything he had eaten in the last twenty four hours.

So the trip became a quiet affair as they followed the tracks towards the town. When they entered it they soon found out from asking the villagers about an unwelcoming old castle only a couple of hours walk northwest of the town that where rumoured to have found new inhabitants in the last six months, mages who kept to themselves and never interacted with the townspeople. The group figured that the castle would be their best chance and decided to start their search there.

They arrived at the castle just as the sun sets on the fifth day since the abduction. They parked the cars a few hundred meters away from the castle rendering them the invisibility they desired not knowing what was waiting for them. As soon as the cars stopped they jumped out of them, with Erza and Elfman stepping out of the cars on much wobblier legs than they cared to admit. The long drive had clearly taken its toll on the two powerful mages.

Natsu however showed no signs of moving anywhere, or moving anything for that matter. He definitely needed a minute to recover and calm down his revolting stomach from the day long torture of Ezra's reckless driving. When Natsu was finally back up on his feet he ran off without any delay, straight into the castle whilst ignoring the others calls for him to wait for them. The others had no choice but to follow him as quickly as they could without having even the slightest idea of what was expecting them inside the gloomy stone walls. In Natsu's footsteps they found several unconscious guards laying scattered in a trail for them to follow. When the rest of the group finally caught up with the furious dragon slayer they found him in the middle of a corridor where he was currently occupied with holding a man dressed in guards armour by the metal collar of his cuirass. Natsu's free hand was completely surrounded by raging red and yellow flames and he was threatening to hit the guard with the flames if he did not start to talk very very soon….

"WHERE ARE THEY, YOU BASTARD what the fuck have you done to our friends?"

"I... I have no idea what you are talking about, please let me down mage. I don't know anything…"

"I would tell him what I knew if I were you" Erza interfered in a cold voice, "Natsu is not exactly famous for his patience."

When Natsu pulled his flaming fist back to prepare himself to punch the shit out of the smaller man, the guard quickly gave in:

"Ok ok, please do not hurt me, you must be talking about the Ice and Water mage aren't you? They are in the prison cells on the second floor." The guard explained in a futile attempt of saving his own skin. Natsu promptly dropped the guard and ran off in the direction the guard pointed out but Erza picked the guard up by his collar again and force him to stand.

"You are coming with us, and for your sake I really hope our friends are okay". She says in a dark voice. "Oh and I certainly don't recommend shouting to draw attention or leading us into a trap if that thought ever crossed your mind. Trust me, we can handle it. The only one that will suffer is you".

After swallowing uneasily and nodding his understanding the nervous guard lead them through huge corridors that seemed to have once been painted a bright happy yellow but had over years of neglect bleached into a dirty beige colour with paint falling off the walls in big chunks everywhere. The crimson red carpet that ran through the middle of the corridor had also seen its better days; it was moth-eaten and in severe need of a cleaning and the question of why the place had been abandoned long ago popped into more than one of the guild members as they hurried through the depressive halls.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

When Natsu and the others entered the prison the first thing they found was a dreadful Juvia locked up in a cell. She was chained to the wall, and her clothes were tattered. Her blue hair hung down over her eyes in dirty stripes and her pale skin were in dire need of a good scrub, but otherwise she seemed fairly okay, at least considering that she has been captured for the last five days. In the cell next to her however they found an unresponsive Gray, also chained to the wall in a kneeling position with both his legs bent to the side in a desperate attempt to find some small relief for his shattered knees. His head hung heavy with his kin leaning against the pale chest and his raven hair covering most of the battered face. He was dressed in what little is left of his black pants. It was relatively dark in the cell but they could still clearly see the dark blood caked all over his violently trembling body, covering cuts and black bruises everywhere.

Lucy could feel the bile rising in her throat when she noticed what she could only assume to be a blood covered, pointed bone-shaft that appeared to have pierced both flesh and skin as well as the black fabric of Gray's pants. She swallowed loudly to stop herself from gagging before following Gajeel who spared no time walking straight up to the barred prison door of Juvia's cell. After a short interruption that ended with a cell door reduced to a pile of bent bars and splintered wood Gajeel immediately proceeded towards a perplexed Juvia who could only stare at her rescuers, still not quite daring to trust what her senses testified…

In the meantime Natsu breached Gray's cell open and rushed over to his unconscious friend, with help from Erza he carefully unchained Gray from the wall. As soon as the chains that were holding Grays limb body up in a grotesque imitation of a kneeling position were removed, he fell forward into Natsu's embrace, the motion jerking him back into consciousness. He instantly gasped for air as he woke up before letting out an involuntary cry of anguish when his weight were shifted, causing incandescent arrows of pain too shot up through his trashed legs.

Natsu could feel the heat radiating from the young boy's trembling body and he silently asked himself what horrors Gray must have endured the last few days to end up like this.

"Natsu?" The single word was whispered out through dry, cracked lips and Natsu answered gently.

"Yes, it's me. Don't worry we will take care of you."

"Juvia?"

"Yes, she is here as well, we will take care of both of you, I promise." Natsu ensured.

As soon as Juvia was freed from her chains she walked as quickly as her unstable legs could carry her over to where a shivering Gray was being held up by a kneeling Natsu, she pushed Natsu to the side and grabbed Gray, lifting him up so that his upper body was resting in her arms.

Gray looked up upon the blue haired mage and smiles faintly "Juvia, I", he started but was stopped midsentence by an uncontrollable chough that trashed his torn body, making him spit up a few drips of bright crimson red blood.

"Shh, don't speak." Juvia whispered quietly while the chough continued to haunt Gray, "Natsu, can you please bring Juvia the cup next to you on the ground?" She asked without taking her eyes of Gray for a second. Natsu brought her the cup and she filled it up to the top with her magic. Juvia sighed slightly in relief when the familiar feeling of the immediate response rushed through her when she called upon the power within. Not until she once again felt the response of her innate ability she realised how naked and vulnerable she had felt without the power that now bubbled over inside her, absorbing every limb before gathering in the palm of her hand and rushing out through her fingertips.

When Gray finally caught his breath again Juvia brought the cup to his dry lips "Here, drink." She urged and helped him hold his head up enough for him to drink deeply out of the rusty old copper mug. Halfway through, when she could feel his body going limb again, she removed the cup from his lips and held him closer while explaining to her friends what had happened in the five days they had been separated. Her voice was detached, bereft of all emotions, as if she had none left. It echoed in the cold, dark prison cell when she spoke.

"They came in the middle of the night. Juvia and Gray-sama fought them but they were too strong, a woman where throwing magical knives at Juvia and to stop her from getting hurt Gray-sama threw himself in front of Juvia, the knives piercing his chest and thigh. Juvia had to surrender; they threatened to harm him even more if she did not obey, then they put those handcuffs on her". Here Juvia nods at the now broken handcuffs on the ground. "Stopping her magic completely and took Juvia and Gray-sama away. They conducted experiments on Juvia, experiments about her water magic. They said that they wanted to find out how she could create water out of nothing. She was told to perform different tasks and if she refused they'd punish Gray-sama. But even when she obeyed but failed they did hurt him. As `motivation´ the woman said…" Juvia spat out the last words bitterly, as if repeating the words recalls the horror she felt. She sat quietly for a few seconds before continuing her story, once again completely calm and emotionless.

"The days where always the same, they woke us up, took us to another room, most of the day they conducted their experiments on Juvia and after that Juvia and Gray-sama were looked up in here again. At the end of the day they would feed us, they usually gave Juvia lots of food but Gray-sama only had a slice of bread or cheese to eat and a cup of water to rinse it down with. That was all they gave him. And Juvia could not even comfort him, she saw how thirsty he was, how they made fun of him for it, made him beg for the cup and even saw them tip the water over his head instead of letting him drink it, twice… Juvia could do nothing for him, nothing at all. Juvia is made of water, water is her element, and even so, she could do nothing to ease her beloveds thirst. Nothing at all…"

Everybody was standing completely still in a close circle surrounding the two pained magicians, listening to the horrible events the young water mage depicted as she continued her story.

"Two days ago the infection settled; Juvia could see the skin around the wound under his collarbone swell up and become red. That's when the fever hit and that's the night the chains started to rattle. They have not stopped since... Gray-sama has not been conscious much after that but they still would not stop hurting him. Yesterday he started spitting up blood when they slammed a stone fist into his already broken ribs." during the last part of the speech Juvias voice had changed character, from completely emotionless and cold to letting all the horrors and the desperation she had felt in the last week shine through. She barely managed to get the last sentence out before bursting into hysterical sobs once again, desperately holding Grays tattered body closer to hers as if trying to protect him with her own body from the horrors they had both endured.

When he could not take it anymore Natsu walked up too Juvia and put a comforting hand on her shoulder, she looked up at him through the tears as he spoke.

"Don't cry any more Juvia, we are here now, nothing bad is going to happen. We will take care of you and we will take Gray to Polushka. She will make him better, alright?"

Juvias tears were finally slowing down as she nodded at the salmon haired mage's comforting words. When Elfman stepped forward she let him carefully lift Gray's battered body in bridal position. Gajeel approached her and offered a hand to help her stand up which she accepted gratefully.

"Elfman, you and Gajeel need to take Gray out of this place, Cana can you help Juvia? The rest of us have a score to settle."

"No! Juvia will come with you guys, Juvia wants revenge."

"I do not think…"

"It is not up for discussion Erza. Juvia _will_ come with you." The water mage demanded with darkness gleaming in her navy blue eyes.

Erza hesitated for a second before nodding. "Ok, Elfman, and Cana, take Gray to the hospital in town, we will meet you there soon." Erza ordered before turning to the rest "Let's go."

When they entered the experiment chamber Juvia led them to they immediately found both the black-haired woman and the stone man, both hunched over a desk in the far end corner of the room. Before anyone could react Juvia created a Water Lock over the woman's head and several Water Slicers that mercilessly sliced the stone man into pieces in seconds.

"You beat Juvia once, by playing dirty. Juvia will not let you get away with that again…" Juvia explained in the same emotionless tone she had used when she told the guild members what had happened during the last few days. The woman struggled to breathe as numerous men rushed forward through another door on the eastern side of the room but Juvia simply locked them in her death trap as well.

"JUVIA STOP!"

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING? It is not worth it!"

Gajeel and Natsu shouted loudly, desperately trying to divert her attention when they rushed towards her to try to interfere with the current massacre that took place in front of their eyes but she locked them in as well before turning around to talk to her guild members.

"This is something Juvia have to do, Juvia do not want to harm any of you so please let Juvia be and she will release you" Juvia explained before letting Gajeel and Natsu free again and continued to suffocate her captivators and their henchmen...

In less than a minute there were 27 bodies lying in front of Juvia on the floor in the dark chamber. The background of the dark lab/torture chamber together with the bodies that littered the floor everywhere, some still twitching as if they had not yet realised they were no longer among the living created an eerie sight that made the stomachs clench and bile raising in the throats of the involuntary spectators to the horrific scenery right in front of them.

When Juvia was certain that not a single person was moving anymore she turned around and left the room and her shocked guild members without a word…


	5. Chapter 5

**Gaa, My chapters are getting shorter, shortest chapter so far, but if I have written everything I planned in the chapter, why not post it?...**

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**Chapter 5**

Erza had quietly observed the short fight between Juvia and her tormentors, ready to interfere in an instant if it looked like Juvia would need some help. She herself had spent a big part of her childhood looked up in heavy chains and forced to perform actions of slavery to benefit someone else. These old but still painful memories were probably why a part of her understood the rage, horror and pain Juvia must be going through right now.

When Juvia had made the process short with her captors Erza simply let her go, instinctively understanding that it was nothing she could say or do to comfort the younger woman right there and then. Juvia would need time to heal those scars not made by chafing handcuffs but created by the frustration and terror of watching someone you love suffer and not being able to help.

Something didn't seem to add up though, Erza thought. Why would they perform experiments on Juvia in the first place? Sure a water mage is fairly rare but definitely not unique and what would they hope to find out? Every mage draws on their inner power to create something out of nothing. What Juvia had told them back in the dark cell did not make any sense…

With these thoughts swirling through her head Erza was drawn towards the far end of the chamber to try to get a few answers to her questions. She walked up to the desk that the enemy had previously hunched over. However, Erza soon noticed she were being followed by a shadow, when she turned around she found a pair of warm brown eyes looking straight into her own.

"It doesn't seem right to you either does is?" Lucy quietly asked the slightly older, armoured mage with the crimson read hair and the mahogany coloured eyes.

Erza should have known that Lucy would come to the same conclusion as she had. That girl really had her head screwed on tight; she had proven her quick mind during numerous sticky situations and had a talent for solving enigmas.

"No it doesn't. Sure, Juvia is a powerful mage, but her magic is not unique. There are several other water mages around Fiore and what gets me is that Juvia said that they wanted to find out how she could create water out of nothing. If we investigate exactly what they were trying to do maybe we can solve this mystery."

Lucy nodded in a silent agreement and started looking through the papers that where neatly stacked on top of the desk in different piles.

Erza looked back at the rest of her Guild mates who were still standing in the same spot, still looking shocked and perplexed. She cleared her voice and said. "Go back to the town and find Gray, Cana and Elfman at the local hospital. Lucy and I will stay behind and look for clues as to what they were trying to accomplish here."

Lucy and Erza had spent maybe an hour going through the stacks of old books and withered papers that mainly seemed to contain information about elemental magic and its usage. Some of the information they found were more commonly known and some were completely new to the two young women when Lucy finally found something of interest. She picked up a brown folder which turned out to contain a detailed description of how to extract water from the air and ground with help of a massive lacrima and the energy of a water mage with not only the power to manipulate water but also the ability to create and dispatch of water instantly, combined with electricity to create a synthetically induced drought.

Lucy's whole body went cold when the full extent of the plan were revealed through the dry folder in her hands. If Gray and Juvia's abductors where planning on creating a drought through the country they could create endless suffering for everyone in Fiore, firstly in form of starvation when the crops died and eventually all the inhabitants of Fiore would perish completely from thirst. The nameless captivators would also become incredible powerful in being the only ones with water and green lands if they chose to utilize the lacrima only where it suited them.

Lucy showed Erza the folder and let her come to the same conclusion as she had a moment earlier. When Erza were finished reading she looked up at Lucy with a stone cold face.

"I have to report this to Master Makarov, but for now we should all be grateful that they were stopped before they managed to complete their experiments. We are finished here; let's go visit the others at the hospital."

When Lucy turned around to leave she could not help but look at all the bodies still covering the dusty floor of the room and was once again reminded of the devastation Juvia left behind. Lucy wondered what consequences Juvias brutal behavior would bring upon herself and the guild.

"Erza", she said hesitantly "what shall we do with all this? She killed them, without any reluctance at all… It… scared me". Lucy admitted and looked down on her shoes, afraid of what the older mage would think of her for being so weak.

"I know, I understand. I will have to alert the local authorities and I cannot tell what will happen to Juvia when the magic council finds out. For now let's focus on getting out of this place and reunite with our friends." Erza answered in an expressionless tone.

When Lucy and Erza entered the hospital they were led to a waiting room where they reunited with Cana, Gajeel, Happy, Natsu and Elfman. The nurse that had led them there had during the short walk explained that Gray had been taken in for emergency surgery since the doctors suspected him to have inner bleedings and in order to try to reconstruct his shattered knees. At the moment that was all the information she had, they just had to wait to see how the surgery went.

The others had sat down on the wooden benches that there positioned along the walls of the room but Erza could not help but notice that no one, not even Gajeel, who usually got along well with Juvia had chosen to sit near her. Juvia herself did not seem to notice though; she was standing by the only window in the room, which overlooked the bigger part of the town square. The water mage could not help but feel a small satisfaction when she saw the townspeople run like ants between the grey buildings to avoid the pouring rain that had seemed to show up from nowhere three hours ago and not stopped since.

Erza stepped out of the room in search for some privacy, what was coming next was something she dreaded deeply but she had to inform Makarov of what had happened. There was a very serious risk that Juvia would be excluded from the guild and thrown in jail for her crimes. A small voice within Erza pointed out that had things turned out differently it could have been her. If she had been a little older when they overtook the tower of heaven she could very well have made the same choice that Juvia had done today… _May the bearer of no sin cast the first stone_.

The ancient words kept repeating themselves in her head as she opened the messenger Lacrima to contact Makarov. _Please show the poor girl mercy, _she prayed to anyone that would listen to her plea_._

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**No I am not a religious person. In fact I almost despise those who try to force feed religion upon others, but the famous quote that I have paraphrased in this chapter is one of the most beautiful quotes I know. I don't care that it comes from the bible. It is the wisdom behind the words that I find comfort in…**

**I'm not saying that we are all sinners and belong in some biblical hell, but rather that we should be kind towards each other and forgive a mistake since all of us have made them, one time or the other**…


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi guys. Firstly, yay today my views reached a thousand! That is so cool :D. Thank you all soooooo much for all your support and kind reviews! It is really your reviews that are keeping me going with this story! **

**A special thanks to Goatgod for your ongoing support and confirmation that I am producing the feelings I was hoping for .**

**Secondly, I have so far received heaps of help with directions, grammar and spelling from my Beta ****Vicious-Loner and with all the help I have received I'm imagining that I have improved at least so much that I have learnt to see where I usually mess up in grammar and spelling. However, if you do notice something that does not seem right, I don't get offended if you tell me, in fact I hope you do! I'm still learning how to write fictions and since English is not my native language I am aware that I stuff up sometimes. **

**And one last thing, I might not be able to upload new chapters so quickly anymore as I have found myself in a bit of a dry spell at the moment, I have the plot clearly laid out in my head but putting it down on paper sort of sucks sometimes :/… so please bear with me and thank you for your patience.**

**I hope you enjoy and please R&R :D**

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**Chapter 6:**

The image of a small, grey haired man flickered for a second in the round Lacrima before stabilizing and zooming in on his old wrinkly face. Erza bit her lip and took a deep breath before greeting the master of the mage guild Fairy Tail.

"Greetings Master Makarov, I have news of our current mission to rescue and retrieve our missing guild members Gray Fullbuster and Juvia Lockser."

"Yes yes yes Erza greetings to you too, but skip the pleasantries and get to the point, have you found them? Are they okay?"

When Erza hesitated for a second she involuntarily provided Makarov with the thought of the worst possible outcome and his face went dark when quietly asking the question he dreaded the answer for the most.

"Are they still alive?"

The single sentence, stated with the slightest tremble in the voice gave witness to exactly how much the Guild master had worried about 'his' children. The low sound jerked Erza out of her paralysis and she began to explain everything that had happened since they arrived at the castle and found Gray and Juvia, including retelling everything Juvia had told them in the prison cell. She finished with explaining the plan of draining the whole country of its water and why the abductors needed Juvia in the first place.

Makarov was quiet the whole time Erza gave her report and when she was finished he had a determined look on his face.

"Erza, I will send Polushka with Jet to you right now, they should be there in a few hours. I will also come but since Jet cannot carry both me and Polushka and still maintain a decent speed I will have to take a car to you, I should be there at the latest tomorrow evening. Until then I want you to alert the local authorities, there is a big chance that some of the guards that Juvia, dealt with… Came from the village and so they have to be alerted to the situation. The magic council would by now know what had happened so don't be surprised if they came knocking on the door to the hospital any moment now. I'll leave the decision of what to do in your very capable hands; I only want to say this. Juvia might not look like it, but she is very fragile. You will have to let her know that even if the council take her away, she is not alone."

Yes Master, I will do as you say but please hurry. We need you here." Erza said with an unsettled look on her face, Makarov only nodded in agreement and closed down the connection between them to send Jet to Polushka and rent another car.

When the Lacrima went dark Erza kept staring at it for a few more seconds, how could she possible fix this mess? Juvia had done something unforgivable. Fairy Tail mages never ever take a life and she had massacred 27 people without a seconds hesitation. At the same time Erza understood her feelings and reasoning behind her actions. The young woman where not thinking clearly and after what she had been through, Erza could not blame her: if anyone would even dare to think of hurting her friends she would make them regret the day their parents decided to have children.

Erza left the small room and went to explain what had happened to the police before heading back into the waiting room and sitting down on an empty chair in order to wait for the doctors to finish their emergency surgery and Polushka to arrive, she wished that the old human-hating healer would be there right now. Although she would never admit it she desperately needed help: dealing with enemy mages and monsters where one thing. She had complete confidence that she could help her friends in any situation of that sort, but this? It was too much, even though she seemed confident on the surface her whole soul where rebelling inside her.

**Later **

It was in the middle of the night and the whole hospital had calmed down into a semi-sleep condition when a tired doctor finally appeared in the door frame, she was instantly attacked from all directions by a raging river of questions.

"Is Gray going to be okay?"

"Can we see him?"

"What did you do?"

"Where is he?"

The old woman almost fell over, she was clearly not prepared for the mad rush for information and it took her a second to catch her breath and find her balance again. Erza forced herself into the middle of the circle of the anxious mages and snarled warningly to the rest of the group to back off and give the poor woman some space, it would not do Gray any good to accidentally push his doctor now would it?

When the white-haired woman retained her breath she cleared her throat and raised her voice to inform the group of Gray's current condition.

"He is asleep right now and his condition is still very unstable. We had to repair a damaged lung and therefore he is breathing with help from a machine at the moment. We have also taken care of his broken bones and opened wounds, cleaned the infected wound under his collarbone and attached a draining pipe to keep it clean from the pus that will keep reappearing until the infection is fought of. We have also replaced both kneecaps with steel plates since they were beyond repair. I am sad to say that he will have to relearn how to walk again. Finally, he is heavily subdued and will be out of consciousness until the morning at the earliest; we have given him medication both for the pain and to fight of the infection. There is nothing more we can do for him right now. Only make sure he is not in pain and wait for him to recover."

When the old wrinkled woman were finished with the deliverance of the depressing news she took a breath and smiled a small encouraging smile towards the group of anxious faces staring at her in horror before continuing. "But yes, I believe the boy will be okay, he is young and has a strong base physic, it will just take a little while and yes, you can see him; if you follow me I will lead you to him right now. But I urge you all to be quiet and careful around him, what he needs more than anything right now is rest."

The aged doctor led them into a new room to which Gray had been moved when the operations were finished. It was, as all hospital rooms are, a small white sterile room without any decorations of any kind. In the middle of it they found an unconscious Gray half lying, half sitting up in a bed with white sheets. The nurses had cleaned all the sweat, caked blood and dirt of him and hooked him up to several machines and cords attached with needles and clamps on his arms as well as a huge mask that covered his mouth in order to help him breathe. Albeit he was still pale and looked incredible weak in a way that were very unusual for Gray, for the first time in almost a week he didn't look like he was in a lot of pain and the view stroke a deep core within Juvia. It finally fully dawned on her that the never-ending nightmare was over. Tears that she thought had dried out completely came from nowhere, they burned her eyelids, compelling her to blink them away and wipe a swollen nose on her filthy shirtsleeves, for once not giving a single fuck who might notice her bad habit and trying to hide it in others presence. All of a sudden Juvia could feel her head getting lighter and her vision of Gray in the hospital bed getting blurry. She struggled to force new air into her lungs and failed miserably, instead she staggered, instinctively putting out both her hands trying to grab something to hold onto in a desperate attempt to protect herself from the impact of the cold stone floor as she finally gave in to the darkness and let herself fall.

Her last thought didn't involve herself at all, only that he was going to be okay, the doctor had said that he would be okay…


	7. Chapter 7

**Yes this chapter is mainly a transport, but it has a lot in it that I had to include before the major event, the trial! So please bear with me and there will be more drama in the next chapter again . **

**I am aware of some OOCs regarding Juvia in my story but I do honestly believe her to have more depth than the borderline psychopathic fan-girl that we are so used to seeing in the series and I wanted to, if possible lift that side of her up into the light. Do you think I am succeeding in my attempt or have I failed miserably? Do you agree or disagree with my thought? Leave a comment and let me know what you think :).**

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**Chapter 7**

Gajeel proved his quick reflexes when he moved from the outer part of the group that stood next to Gray's bed to the inner in the blink of an eye to catch an exhausted Juvia when she finally let herself give in to the relieving darkness of her mind. He had been watching her more than he would care to admit if anyone questioned him about it and therefore caught the sudden paleness of her face and the first swaying before she passed out completely.

When Juvia woke up again she found herself laying on the previously empty hospital bed next to Gray with a nurse currently busy using her arm as a pincushion to insert a drip and the rest of the group now circling her bed with worried looks. Juvia instantly looked around and when she found Gray, still unconscious and laying on the bed right next to her she relaxed and let herself be taken care of. Her much-needed rest however was brutally interrupted not much later when at least twenty men in the official uniform of the magic council barged in to the small room and were stopped in the door frame by Natsu and Happy who wouldn't let them anywhere near Juvia and Gray. Angry flames surrounded Natsu's whole body and Happy held his small blue paws tightly closed and up in the air in a warning for the soldiers not to come any closer, or else…

Master Makarovs last words rang in Erza's ears, he had left the decision up to her and she knew what she were supposed to do but how could she just stand idle by when they came to take Juvia away? It was not fair, the poor girl had been through so much already, and how would Gray react if, no _when_ he woke up and realized that they had let the all high and mighty Magic Council take Juvia? The image of the Council driving away with Jellal in chains were burned into Erza's memory far too deep and the pain of just letting him go was not something she wished for Gray to go through as well. No Erza just could not let that happened, she could live with pain herself but she could not live with the knowledge that she had let it happened to her friends, and so there on the spot Erza made her decision. She had always followed the rules and what good had it ever done?

Only pain had ever been brought from following the rules so far.

"You cannot take her, I won't allow it" she stated with a determined voice, now that she had finally made her choice nothing could make her change her mind, this was Erza Scarlet, the Fairy Queen and such was her character. She would defend her friends until her last breath was drawn and nothing could change that, nothing at all.

"Enough." When everybody turned their heads around to localise the origin of the small fragile voice they found Juvia standing next to the bed she had previously slept on. "Stop this fighting, Juvia will go with them. Juvia made her choices of her own free will and now she is prepared to face the consequences for them."

And with those words she left the room, only stopping for a second and turning to Erza when she passed the scarlet-haired mage. "Please, Juvia begs you, look after Gray-sama, Juvia won't be able to anymore, maybe Erza can do a better job than Juvia did."

Erza stood completely still, her previous intentions of not letting anyone taking Juvia away from Gray's side completely blown out of the window by the unexpected calmness and bravery of her fellow guild member. Her opinion of Juvia had been altered so many times in these last few hours that she felt it was hard to keep track of them by now; she had gained a strong admiration and a new-found respect for the younger mage that had not previously existed. Of course Erza respected Juvia, in the same way she respected and cared for every single member of the Guild, but she had previously failed to see the strong willpower and courage that was now displayed in front of everyone and had been since they found her locked up in the prison cell. She had definitely changed a lot during her week in captivity and it was a more mature and colder woman who now turned her back on the group and walked away to meet her new future, no matter what that might include.

Not even Natsu disagreed when Juvia moved passed him to join the company of heavily armed soldiers whose sole purpose right now existed of escorting her to their masters, the Magic Council. He stepped out of her way without a word. He did however held his fists tightly closed and surrounded by orange flames, a small testament of his real feelings towards the situation but he did no longer held them up in the air with the intention of ramming them into the face of the nearest solider, instead he simply let them hung heavily at his sides.

No one moved a muscle or made a sound until the heavy footsteps of soldier boots could no longer be heard echoing through the quiet halls of the drowsy hospital. The same thought kept haunting every single person, and cat, in that room: What would happen now?

**A little later**

Everybody except for Erza and Lucy had left Gray's room in search for a place to sleep. The doctor that had shown them to his room had recommended a small motel just across the street to the hospital. She had explained that close acquaintances to people in the hospital often chose to check into the motel and so there the small group of exhausted Fairy Tail mages rented a couple of rooms for what little was left of the night. Lucy however could not bear to leave her friend's side; she was still haunted by an overwhelmingly guilt that threatened to devour her completely. She could not for any reason, not even pure exhaustion, leave her friend's side. She had made the wrong choice, if she had not chosen to leave them and bring back reinforcements this might never have happened. It was all her fault.

Erza on the other hand was determined to stay awake until Polushka and Jet arrived, it was her duty as the leader of the group and sleep could wait.

The rest of the group had however barely made it into their warm cozy beds before they were disturbed by a furious voice echoing from across the street signalling the late arrival of the terrifying Polushka and a not so terrifying but pretty exhausted Jet. Polushka's powerful voice that cut through both walls and streets demanded "TO BE TAKEN TO THE IDIOTIC ICE BOY AND WATER GIRL RIGHT NOW!"

And shortly after…

"WHAT, IS SHE NOT HERE ANYMORE? WHO'S THE BAKA THAT LET HER LEAVE WITH THOSE MORONS OF THE HIGH COUNCIL? WELL TAKE ME TO THE BOY THEN!"

This short interlude raised everybody out of their beds in an instant, chills running down their spines as they swallowed heavy and mentally prepared themselves for the upcoming meeting with the most petrifying woman in the whole country of Fiore.

Lucy almost fainted when she heard Polushka's voice and ran over to hide behind Erza who stood next to the window, quietly observing the darkness of the night. Erza however, didn't move a centimeter, only turning her head so that she was facing the door again and nodded in a silent greeting to the newcomers as the pink-haired old woman with the strict posture barged into the room, closely followed by a young nurse, visibly trembling in pure fear and a pale Jet who looked like he was about to fall asleep standing.

When Polushka entered the room she walked straight up to the sleeping Gray, ignoring the two others in the room and quickly checked his vitals before turning to the young woman in the door frame and asked for a full report of his injuries, what treatment he had received up until now and what medication they had given him. The answers, delivered with a shaky stuttering voice seemed to at least somewhat satisfy the old healer as her only response consisted of a concurring grunt before turning to Erza and for the first time since she entered the room acknowledging the presence of the two young girls standing next to the window.

"When that idiot Makarov arrives you can tell him that Gray will be alright, he does has a long way back and from now on I will be handling his recovery but the boy is young and strong and I do believe he will recuperate fully. The girl however, Juvia… Makarov told me that she would be here too, and probably need medical attention as well. So why did you let her go?" Polushka asked in a calm, collected tone, completely different from the raging screaming that had caused Lucy to run and hide earlier.

"I had no choice, it was her decision and she made the choice to go with them to face the consequences of her actions." Erza answered, looking straight at Polushka the whole time she was talking.

Polushka nodded and then told everybody to leave the room, "Go and get some sleep. I am here now." And with those words she marked the conversation to be over by turning around to face her patient and once again completely ignoring the presence of the other mages and the poor nurse.

Lucy searched for confirmation in the eyes of the scarlet haired mage and Erza provided her with exactly that when she nodded and stepped out of the room to find a bed. Her mission was finally finished and now the only thing she longed for were some sleep


	8. Interlude, SPOILER ALERT

Spoiler alert!

Or well, sort of. Mainly about feelings between characters… Just had to talk about the latest episode of the manga that was released yesterday. So if you are not up to date with the manga and hate spoilers, please stop reading now.

Sorry about not posting a new chapter but my heart is almost exploding at the moment and I just had to write a short note about it :P

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Oooooooooh, the feels! The way Gray was comforting Juvia in her distress, and is Silver Gray's dad? We have all suspected it but now they finally gave a huge hint towards a close relationship between them. And why does Silver hate him so much? I predict a lot of Gray hurt and angst in a foreseeable future, just the way I like it ;)


	9. Chapter 8, The Trial

**Once again, thank you Goatgod so much for your review! I bounce up and down and get childishly excited every time I read your reviews :D. **

**I have had a real inspiration boost in the last few days and managed to finish both this chapter and almost chapter nine as well. So it should not take so much longer for the next chapter to be uploaded, maybe tomorrow if I have the time, Hope you enjoy!**

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**Chapter 8 ****  
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When Juvia gazed upon the glass cube that were supposed to keep her contained until the time of trial at noon the next day her heart started to race. Even though the room did not share any resemblance at all to the old castle and the prison cell she had spent so much of the last week confined in, horrible memories came back to haunt her as she were about to be locked up again.

She swallowed to get rid of the sudden dryness in her mouth and tried to mentally relax her furiously beating heart but none of her efforts made any difference. She kept telling her self that this was only temporary, it was nothing like getting locked up into the horrible dark cell in chafing rusty chains again but all she could hear was the distressed screams of her companion when he once again were being beaten to the verge of collapse and his pained, desperate gasps for air back in the cell when he kept coughing up spits of blood that stained his pale lips and the ground beneath him bright crimson-red. The eerie sound of rattling chains as his whole body trembled violently during the many fever spikes exploded in her ears. All she could feel were huge filthy rats crawling all over her, impatiently waiting for her to die so that they could have a new feast and the tickling sensation the machine she was hooked up to would always give in response to the different results when she used her magic. All she could smell was her own sweat, sour from fear and exhaustion and the nauseating odor of the mold that covered the grey damp stone wall she was chained to. All she could see was the constant sneering smile that her abductors seemed to wear like a mask and the dreaded eyes of a small girl who could do nothing but sit and wait to get suffocated to death by Juvia's own Water Lock.

Juvia stopped in the middle of a step and tried to take in the surroundings in hope that the difference between the presence and her previous experiences with prisons would calm her down: they had led her to an enormous room filled with glass cubes that where floating around in the air, some high in the air and some just above the ground. All of them sporting the same look though, they were exactly 3 meter squared and completely transparent.

Knowing the difference between this prison and the other did not make a difference though. It was still a prison, no matter how fancy they had tried to make it look and Juvia could not bear to be looked up again, every fibre in her body revolted at the thought of willingly just walk into one of those cubes and accepting her fate.

"Oi, move your steps water mage, don't just stand there!" Juvia heard from behind as she felt a push in her lower back from a blunt object, probably the wooden end of the ceremonial spears the council soldiers were known for.

The hard push had the opposite effect, instead of encouraging the young woman to keep moving it only made her more determined to stay exactly where she was. Her chest felt heavy and tight, no matter how much air she forced down her lungs she did not seemed to get enough to be able to breathe properly.

She turned around, why she could not exactly tell; she just knew that she had to get him to stop forcing her into that horrific prison cell. Though when she spun around her body moved way too quick for her head to follow and the image of the tall irritated soldier in front of her grew blurry as hundreds of different coloured spots covered her vision. She swayed helplessly and stumbled when she tried to lift her leg to regain balance. She could see his bearded face change expression when he quickly realised that the mage was not going to attack him but rather pass out and probably hurt herself in the fall.

He reacted instinctively and caught her before she did hit the floor and carefully lifted her up in his arms. He raised himself of the floor as well and carried her over to the nearest waiting glass cube where he laid her down on the transparent floor before activating the prison Lacrima so that it elevated itself of the ground and started to hover in the air a couple of feet above ground.

Before he left the enormous room he turned around one last time to have a look at her. She looked so helpless and lonely in her transparent prison. Her hair hung down in her face in greasy strips and she was incredibly dirty, she smelled of old dried sweat and her clothes were nothing but rags. She had obviously not cleaned herself since her captivity and when would she have found the time for that he thought to himself? Right now he found it very hard to believe that this fragile little girl where a cold-blooded killer.

But then again evil had no specific face he reminded himself as he left the room. His duty was done and now he desired nothing more than his beloved wife's freshly baked, heavenly tasting apple-pie and the company of his three beautiful daughters. It was almost sunrise so they would soon wake up and start the morning choirs. He yawned and stretched his neck as he walked towards the entrance to the enormous building; it was definitely time to go home…

**Midday the next day**

Juvia had been allowed to shower and clean herself and had even been provided with new clothes to replace the old tattered dress she had worn for a week straight now. They had given her a white sleeveless top with frills over the chest, a pair of navy-coloured stretchy jeans and even a pair of black boots with a low heel. They probably wanted her to look like less of a victim so that they could leave the court room with clear consciousness when they judged her to a life time in jail she thought cynically to herself as she got dressed after the shower. Nonetheless the real reason behind their generosity it did feel incredible good to finally wash the filth of and dress up in something that wasn't stiff with old sweat and stained with dried blood and mud.

When she was finished with her bath she was led to the court room which turned out consist of another gigantic hall. This one however, was filled with seats among the walls and in the middle of the room a pedestal with a hook for chains was attached to it. In front of the pedestal, on the far end of the wall were something that could best be described as a row of thrones on top of an open balcony on the second floor of the room, all facing the middle of the room to which Juvia now were being led.

The court-room were filled with people and the previous noises of chairs that were being moved and chitter chatter that could be heard long way came to an instant halt when Juvia entered the room, all eyes were on her and she could tell they were curious of her. She did however choose to ignore them and completely focus on the seven elderly men and women in front of her.

On her right side and old woman dressed in a long robe in the colours of the council and with the signifying white crucifix attached on the front cleared her throat and started to read out the allegations against Juvia.

"Juvia Lockser, you are called here today to be trialed and if found guilty, punished for your crimes. Do you understand?"

Juvia could feel the members of the magic council's gaze rest cautiously on her, judging her appearance, trying to determine her character and personality and she shuddered under their penetrating eyes. It was harder than she had thought and mentally prepared to ignore the gazes and focus only on answering the questions. They had her fate in their hands, what would they decide? Even with her best intentions to avoid any emotions to be shown her voice trembled slightly when she shaped her mouth around the three simple letters that would mark the beginning of this next nightmare.

"Yes."

"Good. You are accused of murdering twenty-seven people in cold blood. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"It is true."

No one had expected that answer, the whole room gasped for air simultaneously as the words rolled of her lips.

"You do know that it is illegal to take someone's life?"

"Yes."

"So you do not deny your crimes against humanity and the country of Fiore?"

"No."

"So why, why did you do it?" when the questioner asked the last question she had an inquisitive and yet almost troubled look on her face, as if she was worried about where this was going.

Juvia swallowed nervously and desperately wished that she had a glass of water, her throat felt like sandpaper. "Juvia had to your honor."

"Why?"

"They captured Juvia and Juvia's team partner; they needed Juvia's magic for an evil plan to create a drought across the country. They conducted experiments on Juvia and used Juvia as a puppet. If Juvia refused they never touched Juvia, instead they chose to torture Juvias already wounded team-mate." Juvia's small voice regained something of its former power when she uttered those last words, how could they have done such horrible things? When she continued her story the words echoed loudly in the quiet hall. "They hurt Gray-sama!"

"uhuh, and the only other witness that can confirm this is currently hospitalized?"

"Y-yes."

Before any more questions could be asked a guard opened the massive gate to the court room and walked over to the pedestal, placing himself next to Juvia but completely ignored her.

The young guard, easily identified by the robe in same style as the speaks-person looked up at the council and said in an official voice:

"This hearing has received an official request to be postponed by the Master of the mages guild Fairy Tail on the grounds of him claiming his right as the Master of the guild the accused are affiliated with to take the role of defender for his guild member, the accused Juvia Lockser. He requests the hearing to be postponed for as much time as needed for him to travel here…"


	10. Chapter 9

**As promised, a new chapter, even though the site has been stuffing up. could not access my Doc Manager for a while :)**

**Hope you enjoy and even if you didn't please R n R, I'd love some constructive criticism as how i can improve the story and my writing :D**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

**Earlier that day**

A bright persistent light tickled Lucy's heavy eyelids, no matter how she tried to ignore it and fall back asleep it just would not leave her alone and the more she tried to avoid it by turning around and shelter her sensitive eyes with heavy arms, the more she woke up. When her consciousness finally reached the point of no return she sighed slightly to herself and yawned. She opened her eyes and sat up in the small motel bed where she had passed out only a few hours ago. As she bent her arms over her head to stretch the nights stiffness away the dramatic events of yesterday rushed back to her.

She hurried out of the bed so quick that she almost fell over, completely entangled in the sweaty sheets. As soon as she regained most of her balance she continued getting up and got dressed in record speed. When she were finished she ran over to the hospital where she knew she could find the others.

She entered the hospital-room where Gray were resting just in time, Gray were finally waking up!

Gray fought viciously to regain consciousness though it was a one sided battle that he kept loosing. His head felt heavy and his limbs would not obey his wishes not matter how much he willed them to move. He could feel the weakness that had drilled itself into his bones and settled deep into the marrow and it really pissed him of. There was no time to be lazy right now; memories flooded his mind, memories of torture and days that seemed filled with endless pain, memories of a terrified little girl with chocolate-brown eyes that trembled in fear and memories of Juvia…

Hell no, he could not sleep any longer; he just had to wake up now, he had to make sure that Juvia was alright. He could hear voices whisper around him but to decipher them he needed to wake up completely.

That settled it, with one massive effort he bent his eyes open only to find himself staring into the charcoal black pointy eyes of a familiar grinning face.

"Welcome back to the land of the living ice man."

Gray blinked a couple of times to clear his head and to try to grasp the situation, he looked around and found himself laying in a hospital bed with a whole bunch of his fellow guild members in a circle around him, smiling and looking relieved. He found Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Cana, Gajeel, Elfman and Happy. Even Polushka and Jet were there, when did they get here? Come to think about it, were more exactly was here? Everybody that had come to save Juvia and him from the prison where here, it was the last thing he remembered. But no Juvia, where was Juvia? God the confusion was way too overpowering and he could not seem to straighten out the events that had led them all to gather here in this small hospital room.

He tried to sit up in the bed, it felt way too awkward to have them staring down on him from a horizontal position and both Erza and Natsu quickly stepped forward to help him up when they saw his struggle.

"Where am I? How did you guys found us and where is Juvia?"

"We took you to the nearest hospital and we found you with help from Lucy, she led us to the place where you were taken and from there it was not that difficult to find you. How are you feeling now?" Erza explained, deliberately trying to avoid the subject of Juvia and for a second Gray seemed content with the explanation. Then he asked once again.

"Where is Juvia? I want to see her. Is she in another room?" Gray said and tried to get out of the bed, only to realize that his legs didn't obey his mental command, they didn't move a centimeter. This unexpected fact instantly created a panicked reaction and Gray responded with an attempt to move his legs so fiercely that he would have fallen out of the bed if Natsu had not stepped in to catch him. Gray looked his friend in the eyes with a desperate expression in his pale face and eyes glistening with fever. "Where is she? You have to help me Natsu, please I beg you, take me to her." he urged, seemingly oblivious to the fact that they were not alone in the room.

"EVERYBODY GET OUT!" Polushka's powerful voice set stop for all activity for a second and when she caught the attention of everybody in the room she continued. "The boy needs to rest and he can't do that with you simpletons hanging around and keeping him up so get out NOW!" she growled and fixed her eyes on each and everyone in the room, causing everyone except for Natsu, Lucy and Erza to shudder and run away as quickly as their leg could carry them.

"I promise to leave as soon as I explain what has happened to Gray, he won't be able to sleep otherwise." Natsu stated in for him, an unusually calm and collected voice and both Lucy and Erza nodded, albeit Lucy's big show of standing up to the old healer where slightly diminished by the fact that her whole body where visibly shaking in fear and her face had been removed in favor of a huge white sweat drop. Polushka glared at them for a moment judging them, their actions and intentions before nodding her approval.

"Fine but let it be quick."

"What the fuck are you guys talking about? I won't sleep anymore. I need to see Juvia. I have to make sure she is alright and if you won't help me I'll do it myself." Gray stated before once again trying to get up. He sat up with his arms and tried to bend his legs to the side of the bed, in vain. Nothing happened.

"Boy. Stop that, it won't work; you will only hurt yourself even more if you try. Don't you remember? You were badly injured during your captivity and you won't be able to use your legs for a while. The only reason you can't feel it is because you are heavily medicated right now so sit down, that's an order!" Polushka barked at him before nodding for Natsu to continue.

"Gray." Natsu swallowed and looked his friend straight in the eyes, it hurt him to see Gray in such misery and he knew that the next words he uttered would hurt even more. Natsu might be a bit dense sometimes but he could sympathize with Gray's feelings for Juvia. After all, he would feel the same way if anyone in the entire guild were taken from him. They were his family and you don't mess with Natsu Dragneel's family without any consequences. "Listen to me, you can't see Juvia."

At those words Gray panicked. "Why not? What happened? Is she hurt? Where is she, in another room?"

"No, she is not hurt but the council took her away to be trialed. She… took revenge on your kidnappers and now she will be judged for it.

Lucy could later recall exactly in which moment Gray's world fell apart. It was when Natsu uttered the words "took her away." Gray's eyes turned dark and his expression blank. They had taken her away from him? After everything they had been through together? If they decided to lock her up he would never be able to see her again, ever.

Gray fixated his eyes on the one person that he had trusted to take care of her and his face showed pure fury when he attacked Natsu.

"You ROTTEN FIRE BASTARD, you promised you'd take care of her, you promised and you betrayed me, I will fucking kill you!"

Natsu quickly ended the assault by easily removing the still weakened Gray's hand around his throat and capture him in a gentle but firm embrace.

"It was her own choice, she wanted to go with them and we had to accept her wishes Gray." Erza filled in.

"No, she wouldn't leave me. She wouldn't. I have to find her." Gray fought a fierce but pointless battle to free himself from Natsu's embrace. He did not care that his whole body ached and he could barely keep his eyes open, he just knew he could not stay in this rotten hospital bed any longer; he had to go and find her.

"Gray. Listen to me, you're not thinking clearly. You are in no condition to go anywhere and she left of her own free will." Erza continued and stepped in to help Natsu hold him down. Lucy was standing next to them, quietly observing the heartbreaking scene with tears flowing down her cheeks, god it hurt so much to see her friend in such distress. The feeling of helplessness kept haunting her; she could not come up with a single thing she could do or say that could calm him down or ease his pain right now.

"Bullshit, I have to find her, don't you hear me?! Let me go! She would come looking for me, I have to go and find her right now!" Gray kept repeating the words out loud as if repeating the mantra could miraculously bring the blue haired mage back to him, as if the words could take the image of her in his mind and with help from that call upon the real Juvia. Tears flowed freely down his cheeks and he was shaking violently.

While this argument took place Polushka sighed and walked over to the other corner of the room. It had a small sink and a cupboard over it. She opened the drawer to the far left corner and picked up a huge needle and a small bottle. She drew in a transparent liquid into the needle, tapped on it twice and walked over to the others again. Without further ado she grabbed Gray's arm and before he had time to react she ran the needle into his shoulder with great precision and expertise.

He jerked away from the needle and turned his head towards the old healer when he felt the sudden sting but it was too late. Gray could feel his eyes grow heavy and his limbs stopped obeying his commands in favor of him collapsing completely in Natsu's arms. "You jerk, how could?" but what he wanted to say to the pink-haired healer they never found out as he passed out completely before finishing the sentence.

Natsu lifted Gray's limb body up on the hospital bed again with help from Erza and spoke gently to his unconscious friend.

"How many times are you going to make me catch you when you fall ice brain? Just rest instead and let us take care of it you fool."

"Get out." Polushka growled at the three mages that lingered in the room, unwilling to leave Gray's side even though he right now had no idea they were there. "You achieved what you wanted; you told him what had happened and what good did it do? Now get out of this room immediately." She finished and they obeyed her demand, well knowing he was in good hands.

When they exited the room Erza felt a warm tingling sensation that originated from the purse she had hanging over her left shoulder, the whole bag glowed in the tell-tale sign of someone trying to contact her through the messenger Lacrima. She lifted the glowing sphere out of the purse and activated it with her magic. It was, as she had suspected, Master Makarov who wanted to contact her. When the image had stabilized she could see the image of the master driving a car at the same time as he was talking to her. The deep furrows in his face seemed deeper than usual, and he had dark circles under his eyes.

"Greetings Erza. Tell me, what has happened since we last talked?"

"Gray is still in no condition to move anywhere but Polushka is treating him and she says that he will be alright, well in time at least but the council took Juvia away to be trialed.

"Those bastards, I have to do something about that, they will mangle her for sure. Makarov said, looking down and speaking almost to himself than to Erza. Then he looked again and continued. "I will be there soon, don't do anything until I get there. Understood?"

"Yes master, understood."

"Good. I don't have time to talk any longer. Good bye for now." Makarov finished and closed down the connection between them.

Erza sighed and put the now cold and dark sphere back into her purse. She desperately wished he would be here now and prayed to whoever would listen for a speedy arrival.


End file.
